Iniesta Named New Barcelona Captain

Barcelona have announced that Andres Iniesta will succeed Xavi as club captain, with Lionel Messi acting as his understudy, after a vote from his teammates.

Xavi joined La Masia, Barça’s youth academy, as an 11-year-old and spent 24 years at the club before recently leaving for Al Sadd in Qatar.

A Barcelona statement read:

“The FC Barcelona first team have chosen their four captains for the coming season, with Andres Iniesta, Leo Messi, Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano, picked by their team-mates to lead the side. With the departure of Xavi, Iniesta takes over as first captain, with Messi and Sergio repeating as second and third vice-captains, and Javier Mascherano coming in as the fourth captain. The coaching staff now have to give their approval to the results.”

“You’re going to retire me. This kid [Iniesta] is going to retire us all.”

Iniesta made his first-team debut in 2002 and has since helped Barcelona win La Liga seven times, four UEFA Champions League titles and two FIFA Club World Cups. In 2010 – the year in which he scored the only goal in the FIFA World Cup™ Final – he finished runner-up to Messi at the FIFA Ballon d’Or, before coming third two years later.

Only last week the attacking midfielder, capped 104 times by his country, said:

“Becoming Barcelona captain is very special, especially for those who have spent so long at the club. It is a very special responsibility to represent not only the team but much more: the kit, the club image.

“In the same way that all people are different, I don’t think there is an exact model of a captain. Everyone is different and communicate things in their own way.”